The present invention relates to the integration of the Internet with telephony systems, and more specifically, to a system, method and article of manufacture for using the Internet as the communication backbone of a communication system architecture while maintaining a rich array of call processing features.
The Internet has increasingly become the communication network of choice for the consumer e-mail marketplace. Recently, software companies have begun to investigate the transfer of telephone calls across the internet. However, the system features that users demand of normal call processing are considered essential for call processing on the Internet. Today, those features are not available on the internet. Thus, a system is required that connects a communication network including telephony capability with the Internet to facilitate callback processing.
Callback scenarios for reserving calls over existing telephony networks have been available for some time. Examples of such services are CSI Callback, Rumilla Telecommunication for international callback and SummitLink provides international callback offering distribution, wholesaling and rebilling features. The internet provides a website entitled, xe2x80x9cCallback on the Netxe2x80x9d which purports to xe2x80x9ccollect all available information on callback services.xe2x80x9d This information was accumulated by doing a Yahoo search utilizing the search term CALLBACK.
International callback as provided by the prior art systems refers to a user being able to dial a number to connect to a switch overseas. The caller allows the phone to ring twice and hangs up. The switch then utilizes the ANI and/or called number information to query a database of profile information stored on the switch to determine billing and other information on the caller. Then, the switch initiates a call to the caller and when the caller goes offhook, the switch provides a dialtone allowing the caller to access any number available to the switch. In this way, international or other long distance callers can obtain low cost long distance services so long as they are pre-registered for the service. This service still requires the caller to be responsible for all of the overhead associated with initiating call processing, requires a caller to learn the protocol of interfacing with the switch, does not provide reservation of such services as conferencing, and it does not allow operator assistance on the calls.
Recently, ATandT has announced a service very similar to conferenceMCIxe2x80x94MCI""s Operator Call-In Conference Call capability. This service termed, xe2x80x9cOn-Line TeleConferencexe2x80x9d capability allows teleconference customers to use an on-line interface to allow customers to pre-arrange an ATandT TeleConference call through the World Wide Web. However, while conference call definition of a number for each participant to call into to join the conference call is provided, xe2x80x9call voice connections are established ever the existing telephone networkxe2x80x9d and require all parties to contact a common number to establish the conference call (ATandT TeleConference Service: On-Line Trial Information, Feb. 7, 1997).
While this new ATandT service is moving in the direction that the subject invention has already arrived at, it does not provide integration of voice over the Internet with existing network services, not does it provide any mention of a callback architecture which allows a calling party to pre-arrange for a network service to contact one or more parties and effectively eliminate the need for any manual intervention. Moreover, it does not provide an operator on an exception basis for Internet telephony operations. Thus, a true union of the Internet and existing telephony networks is not provided.
What is needed is a method, system and article of manufacture for facilitating callback service, providing operator assist on Internet telephony operations, allowing a caller to reserve a time for a call, facilitating Internet telephony operations to be added to a callback service, adding a multi-dimensional conferencing feature to existing telephony networking and providing an expert system to provide self-regulation of a call system. Further, the method and system is required which is reliable, responsive, and effective in interfacing with existing telecommunication networks.
According to a broad aspect of a preferred embodiment of the invention, telephone calls, data and other multimedia information are routed through a switched network which includes transfer of information across the internet to provide multi-routed and multidimensional callback processing. A telephony order entry procedure captures complete user profile information for a callback operation. This profile information is used by the system throughout the telephony experience for routing, billing, monitoring, reporting and other telephony control functions. Users can manage more aspects of telephony experience and as necessary can specify a date and time for a callback telephony experience to occur.